Page 47 of Alpha Hunger

“No.” He glances at my crossed legs and lifts an “eyebrow.”

I ignore his obvious gesture to do what he asked me and push on. “I intend to work for my bonus and salary. Don’t take that away from me. And as your PA, I feel I should know if there are problems. For example, yesterday, I found something interesting on your social media site.”

“I am taking nothing from you. The opposite is true. I am giving you much more than a PA can earn.”

“Like what?”

“Me.”

Stunned, I scramble for something to say. I haven’t thought about how he feels about all this.

“Are you rejecting my advances?” he asks.

“We both know I can’t reject you.”

Raven stands and starts pacing the office. “You can. A simple no would suffice.” He stops and locks gazes with me. I swallow under the pressure of his dominance. He continues, “I asked you to prepare your nest. You’ve returned to work instead. Are you rejecting me?”

This is my opportunity. I can walk away from him, and all that I’ve gotten myself into when I applied for this job.

“Is it all about the money?” he asks.

I pick up a pen just so I can fiddle with something in my hands.

He yanks it away. “Answer me.”

“It’s not all about the money, but the money helps.”

Raven nods. “Finally, I understand.” He walks behind his desk, pulls up a screen, scans it quickly, then types numbers on it. Not wanting to miss out, I stand behind him. My name glares at the top of the screen. It’s the human resources file. He copies the direct deposit account number onto the other screen and types an amount ten generations of my family haven’t see in their lifetime.

My fast heartbeats drum in my ears, and I say, “Stop.”

He poises the claw oversend transfer.

“Stop.” I put more force into the word.

It doesn’t deter him. He hits Send, and I watch the money bag labeled with the amount travel across the screen and land into my account. The balance shuffles, and I stare, my heart beating a mile per second.

Raven turns around. “There. The human currency is out of my fucking way.”

Stunned, I stand there not knowing what to say. On one hand, this male just set me and my grandkids up for life. On the other, if I accept, I’d have whored myself out for a fortune. I will be in debt to him for life.

Chapter 17

Raven

Anna thanks me quietly and walks to her desk. She sits down and stares into space. This is not what I expected. The money seemed to be the source of my problems with Anna, so I eliminated it. I don’t want her to work for money, and I fucking hate that humans associate it with power. Courage, honor, and strength are powers. Money is nothing but paper whose value degrades over time.

Anna should be nesting, preparing for me, not sitting and staring into space as if there’s something more pressing than her impending heat. There is nothing more pressing than an Omega in heat. It is the very basic survival instinct. All animals of Earth understand this, and those who can’t breed go extinct. Humans have driven many of their creatures to extinction precisely because of greed. Regha Alphas won’t be one of those creatures.

“The list,” she says.

“Are you joking?” Understanding human humor is challenging for me. I smile. “You’re funny.”

“Thank you, boss.”

“Alpha.”

She fists her hands. “Alpha.”

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